Refining apparatus



P. S; NISSON REFINING APPARATUS Filed Jan.

Feb. 20, 1934.

ATTORNEYS ,Parmalat-.520,199.4 1,948,126

UNITED srA'res PATENT omen REFINING APPARATUS Philip S. Nissen, Brooklyn, N. Y., assigner to The Gray Processes Corporation, Newark, N. J., a

corporation of Delaware Application january 21, 192e. serial No. esente 4 claims. (cl. 19e-e6) This invention relates to petroleum rening ones. However, in actual operation it has been and pertains especially to the purifying of found that it is the lower layers and not the upper cracked. hydrocarbons by contacting the same in which rst becomes so saturated `with polymersV vapor phase with solid adsorptive treating mate as to prevent'them having a beneiicial effect on s rial. the vapors. Apparently this is caused bythe rac vWhen cracked hydrocarbon vapors are passed wetting of the lower portions of the catalyst by through solid adsorptive treating material, the polymers producedin the upper portion and carrnost common example of which in commercial ried'down by the combined action of gravity and use is tvllers earth, the unstable, unsaturated the vapor stre. Moreover when the vapors to constituents such as diolefins and the like presare passed downwardly through the treating o5 ent therein are polymerizecl into compounds of material they come in contact finally with the higher boiling points which compounds liquey material most fully saturated with polymers and end are thereby separable from the Vapor. This the diculty o completely separating the treated` is taken advantage o inthe refining process disvapor and polymers is increased and the quality L3 closed in ll. S. Patent No. 1,340,889, andl in variof the treated vapor may actually be lessened by vo ous improvements of such process. In general being passed through the bottom layers. these processes me practiced by connecting a According to the present invention the above 'tr-eating tower containing solid adsorptive treatnoted undesirable features are eliminated by utiing material to a distillation system which moy lizing e. plurality of beds of treating material 2o be e, crashing, a re-running or a topping system, instead of using, as heretofore, a single bed. The v5 the hydrocarbons to be treated are passed in polymers formed in each bed or treating Zone vapor phrase through the treating material until are removed from the vapor stream before the latter is spent es evidenced by lthe lack of latter passes on to the next treating bed or zone. retlnercent el the treated vapor. Polymers Polymers formed in one zone are thus prevented es the process are separated trom the from wetting the treating material in successive so treated vapors by virtue ci their higher boiling zones and the effective life of the latter is matepoint. Zit is preerable to pass the vapor downrially increased; each treating bed or zone bis parody through. the catalyst, although upward maintained uncontaminated by polymers from treatment gives satisfactory results. the precedingr stages.

s@ 3o-pending application ol T. T. Gray, Ser. Other objects, novel features and advantages es No. 291,57, 'filed July l0, i923, discloses and of this invention will be apparent from the folclsims an improvement on the above process lowing description and accompanying drawing, which results in a product oi' superior quality as wherein:

regards ireedoru from gum forming constituents, The gure discloses (partly in section) en apcclor, sftehility and the like, and also in a higher paratus embodying the invention. co

ratio of hydrocarbons treated to catalyst used. in' the drawing' l1 is an insulated treating lt @ESQ llfvde @0T mr@ Efficient Spal'tiOn 0f tower provided with a plurality o perforated polymers from the treated vapors and more willm shelves l2, the bottom one of which terminates venient means ci continuous operation than in 'a discmirge spout controlled by a suitable n@ hitherto have been available. valve l0. Upon each or' the shelves there is supos The present invention has fol on object a trebported a bed of treating material i3, preferably spne'ftil m' pltilg @fciemllf the Proullers eorth. Manholes 14. are provided for. ess above rel'errecl to. charging the treating material onto the shelves A better understanding ot the novel features i2 andmanholes l5 are provided for removing is el this invention will be facilitated by a desoripthe spent treating materiaf from the upper 100 tion or the manner in which the catalyst becomes shelves, the treating material being removed spent in the proces as heretofore carried on, par from the lower shelf through its discharge spout.

ticularly Where the vapors are passed downwardly The tower 1s provided Vwith. a plurality of horitlrolish the trotting mslm It iS apparent zontal partitions lo, there being such a. partito met in Such process the 16m lnd vapors come tion arranged beneath each of the upper shelves 105 nrst in contact with 'the material near the top 12. These partitions are provided with shielded oi the treating tower and successively lower lay` apertures 17 through which treated vapors may ers are subjected to progressively more rened pass. Each shielded aperture consists of an upvepors. in way the upper strata of the turned spout over which there is a loosely fitting .so nesting materiel becomes spent before the lower cap. This csp is very ar to a bubble cap and 110 may have holes near the bottom of the side or the bottom may be kept oii the door by prongs.

Trapped pipes 18 are provided for removing liquefied polymers and other liquid draining I through the shelves 12 onto the partitionsl 16. The cap over the spout prevents liquid from passing through the spout and deiects that liquid to the door of 16 where it is drained by 18. A trapped outlet 19 is also provided for removing lo liquid. from the lower portion oi the tower. Va-

through the inlet 20 and is discharged from tha bottom of the tower through the outlet 21. The shelves 12 are permeable to vapor and liquid but are impermeable to solids.

The operation of this apparatus is as follows:

Vapor to be treated is admitted through the yinlet 20 and passed downwardly through successive beds of treating material by way of the apertures 17 in the shelves 12, thereby eii'ecting polymerization of the unstable unsaturated constituents of the vapor by contact with the treatv ing material. By means of the partitions 16 the polymers formed and the condensate produced in each layer of treating material are prevented from passing onto the subsequent layers, thereby preventing contamination of the latter while the vapor passes freely through the openings 13. The pipes 18 keep the partitions 16 free o! liquid so that there is no tendency for the'vapors to carry over entrained liquid. Treated vapors are removed through the outlet 2l and may be passed through a separator (not shown) completely to remove any liquid and polymers and are then carried over to the condenser.

By use of the apparatus above described the polymers formed in one treating zone are prevented from contaminating the treating material in a subsequent zone. The lii'e of the treating material is thus increased and ay better product is obtained. The number of treating zones used may be varied as desired to meet diii'erent conditions. Preferably rullers earth is used as the treating material but other solid adsorptive catalytic material may bauxite.

It is of course understood that the shelves for supporting the catalytic material may be of ditrerent number according to the conditions and por is admitted to the upper part of the tower be used, such for example as the vapors may be rmade to pass upwardly through the beds of catalytic material as well as downwardly. It is obvious that other changes may be made in the structure oi' this apparatus without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for treating vapors comprising a tower, a plurality of partitions -iorming superposed chambers, a uid permeable support in each chamberior a bed oi' solid treating material, means for passing vapor successively through said chambers and trapped draw-oil pipes having a plurality oi drainage inlets de pending from the partitions forming the bottoms of said chambers.

2. An apparatus for treating vapors comprising a tower, a plurality of partitions forming superposed chambers, a uidpermeable support in each chamber for a bed oi' solid treating material, means for passing vapor downwardly through successive chambers, and trapped drawoiI pipes having a plurality of drainage inlets depending irom the partitions forming `the bottoms of said chambers.

3. An apparatus for treating vapors comprising a shell, a plurality of partitions forming superposed chambers, a iluid permeable support in each chamber for a bed of solid treating material, upwardly anged shielded apertures in each 105 partition for permitting passage oi' vapor while preventing passage of liquid, trapped draw-of! pipes havinga plurality o1' drainage inlets depending fromthe partitions forming the bottomstoi' said chamber a vapor inlet, and a vapor 110 outle 4. An apparatus for treating vapors comprising a shell, a plurality o1' partitions forming superposed chambers, a iuid permeable support in each chamber for a bed of solid treating mate- 1.15`

rial. upwardly flanged shielded apertures in each partition for permitting passage of vapor while preventing passage of liquid, trapped draw-off pipes having 'a plurality oi drainage'inlets depending from the partitions. forming the bottoms of said chambers, a vapor inlet leading into the top chamber, and a vapor outletleading from tue'bottom chamber.

PHILIP s. NrssoN. 126 

